Garage Sale 2026

Bow Island & District Health Foundation - "Garage Sale- 2026" was once again a success in raising funds for the Foundation's Scholarship Program and for the Staff Wellness Fund.

The Foundation Trustees would like to extend a huge THANK-YOU to all of our supporters who contributed to the success of the sale. Special thanks are extended to:

Bow Island Ag Society for the use of the tables

Bow Island Minor Sports for the use of the concession space

Brenda's Kitchen Catering for supplying suppers to the volunteers during the week of set-up

Chuck MacLean for bringing and operating the tractor with the forks for loading the unsold items after the sale

Dendron Services for supplying the sea-can and waste disposal unit at the arena

Evangelical Free Church Youth Fellowship for spending two evenings doing pick-ups of donations in the community

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Senator Gershaw School for assisting with set-up and clean-up

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‍St. Michael's School for spending an afternoon receiving and distrbuting donations for the sale.

Frances Egan for assisting with the transport of tables and display equipment to the arena and for the use of his truck to transport unsold items to Medicine Hat

Geldreich Farms for supplying truck, trailer, driver  to transport unsold items to Medicine Hat and extra hands to help unload

Kim & Scott MacDonald for transporting one large load of leftovers to Medicine Hat and unloading it by themselves - unknown to us, the promised extra help was only in the receiving area - not with unloading the truck!

Town of Bow Island for the use of the arena

Donors - there were 148 individual donors registered (we may have missed reminding some to sign in!) Of those volunteers, some brought one load, some brought several loads - from boxes to trailers full!   Every donation - whether large or small - helped to make the sale a success by providing a vast variety of salable goods! We would like to acknowledge Island Furniture for the donation of numerous new items of room and wall decor that were used as silent auction items at the sale.

Community  participation  was tremendous  once again this year, with a total of 55 registered volunteers donating 1200+ hours  during set-up, acceptance and distribution of donations, pricing, the sale itself and the clean-up following the sale.  Some were able to offer an hour or two and some spent up to 60+ hours at the arena to assist - every one gave freely of their time to make this sale a success.  Finally, what would we do without our shoppers. Opening night saw a fun formal count-down inside the arena to ensure that both the front and back doors would open at the same time! There were numerous shoppers waiting at the door that first evening and sales were brisk all evening, followed the next day by a steady stream of shoppers!

A  frequently asked question this year was: "What do you do with any unsold items? - there must be a lot that doesn't sell!" The answer to that question  is that we:   Hold an open House for other community organizations to come in, browse, and help themselves to whatever they find that can assist with their organization's purpose.   Some of these organizations are:

  Faith Mission (clothing, linens, medical supplies, bikes)

  SPCA (worn towels and linens)

  DYL Thrift Store (supporting Medicne Hat Women's Shelter)

  Re-Bark - Pet Dog Thrift Store (dog equipment - 30% of  proceeds go to the SPCA)

  Medicine Hat Pregnancy & Family Support Centre (Infant equipment and supplies)

  Y- Treasure Thrift Store - Medicine Hat (remaining items - this year - 3 large trailer loads, utilized for their children's programs)

We try very hard to ensure that the community donations are utilized in a positive community and earth-friendly manner !

Thank-you once again for your support - we could not do this without you!

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